Promises
by IzumiIncarnate
Summary: After showing the early stages of Alzheimer's, Kuwabara made Yusuke promise that he would never let him get to the point that he was no longer himself. Yusuke was unable to keep the promise until now. Oneshot/complete.


AN: This is a fic I wrote a few years ago, but I'm just now publishing here. I wrote this when I was going through Lyme's disease and my grandmother was suffering through pseudo-dementia. This is not a fun story, but it is one my favorites. I poured my heart and soul into this fic, so please, do not flame. You have no idea what it is like to be slowly losing your own mind as you watch a family member do the same. Please review if it is nice, and if it isn't, kindly keep it to yourself. I hope you enjoy the fic!

Promises

Yusuke stood quietly over the old, leathery figure lying in the bed before him. The wrinkled man looked like a ghoul in the poor lighting of the faded moon and the machines' monitors. It was hard for Yusuke to believe that the decrepit figure before him was his best friend. No, it was no longer Kuwabara that lay in front of him, only the body that was still living on. Kuwabara had long since disappeared. Yusuke sighed as suddenly thousands of images of his best friend whirled through his mind.

Kuwabara nervously putting on his tux right before he married Yukina. Kuwabara running out of the hospital room, screaming at top of his longs that it was a girl, a perfect, baby girl. Yusuke remembered going fishing with him the one time they ever attempted to and ended up capsizing the boat. He remembered the look on Kuwabara's face whenever Eikichi gave birth to her litter. With the good memories came the painful ones. Kuwabara slowly falling to the ground in the dark tournament after Toguro's fatal blow. The look of betrayal that he shot at Yusuke when the mazoku left for the demon world. Kuwabara's uncontrollable tears as he kneeled in front of the small grave they made for Eikichi.

Good or bad, Kuwabara had always looked so alive, so full of emotion. It was something Yusuke had often envied. Kuwabara knew what he was feeling at any given moment, he didn't have many mixed emotions, and he never went through times like Yusuke had where he just felt dead inside. It was so unfair that someone who knew how to live life so fully could ever end up like this.

They had all known it was coming. Everyone had known since the day Kuwabara came back from the neurologist's. His friends and wife had noticed changes in him. He wasn't able to find words or form sentences correctly. He would go through times of sudden anger. Everyone's worst fears were realized when the diagnosis became clear; Kuwabara had Alzheimer's. Yusuke didn't want to believe it at first, but over the years it became more and more obvious.

It wasn't until a year in a half earlier, at Shizuru's funeral that Kuwabara finally cracked. Before then the man had still been mostly alright. He was of course more forgetful and became angry when things suddenly changed, but he was still able function and live with his wife and visit his daughter and grandkids. But after Shizuru's death, it only got worse. He forgot who his grandkids were and became unable to take care of himself. Finally, about six months ago, he had attacked Yusuke. Periods when the sun sets are hard on people with Alzheimer's, it confuses them horribly, and at time leads to extreme anger. The 75 year-old man, who was still incredibly strong, attacked the former spirit detective on one such evening. After that, they had no choice but to place Kuwabara in a home.

Yusuke knew that he should have realized it then. He knew that he should have followed through with his promise then, but he found himself unable to. He remembered perfectly when he had made that promise to his friend years before hand, the day he was diagnosed. The look of complete seriousness that rarely ever crossed the old man's face. "If it ever gets to the point, Urameshi," he had said, "that I can't function any longer, do me a favor and kill me."

Yusuke had wished that he knew Kuwabara was kidding. He wished he could have laughed and said that it would never happen, but he wasn't naïve enough to think that it wouldn't. He should have followed through with it six months earlier after the attack, but he was too stubborn and believed for some reason he would get better.

… He had been wrong.

… now Yusuke finally understood. He knew he had waited too long when he couldn't  
remember who his wife, Shizuru or Yusuke were.

That was why he now stood in the corner of Kuwabara's room, looking at his best friend, a syringe of clear fluid in his hand. It was a fast-acting poison that Yusuke had gotten from Kurama years ago. It would leave no trace and cause no pain.

Yusuke slowly stepped forward towards that man. He took one look at the body before him and knew that this is what he had to do. He raised the syringe and slowly injected it into the IV. He knew that it would take at least 10 minutes for his friend to die, and he wasn't going to leave the spot until he had. He knew that Boton was most likely waiting outside the window. He knew that Yukina would understand why Yusuke had done it. He knew that it had been the right thing to do. Why then had it felt so wrong?

Tears flowed down Yusuke's face as he watched his friend die in front of him. He knew he was going to have to see Kuwabara die. Just like he had to watch his mother, Genkai, and Keiko die, because they were human while he was demon. But never in his wildest dreams did he think that he was going to have to be the one to kill his best friend.

He heard the steady beeping dead-pan into a monotonous noise, and he reached over to turn of the machine. He leaned over the lifeless body and said "I'm sorry I couldn't do this earlier. You never deserved such a horrible end. You lived live more thoroughly in your 70-some years then I most likely ever will, no matter how long I live. Goodbye, Kuwabara, and thank you for everything you've ever done."

With that said he slowly walked out, head hung low as he went to tell everyone the news. That Kuwabara had finally been freed from his prison.


End file.
